They changed me more than they could ever know by Quentin

They changed me more than they could ever know by Quentin - March 2023 Scholarship Essay

As an African American male there are several people who have been present in my life, each one of them contributing to my educational journey in their own respective manner. Both of my parents are college graduates with degrees in their own respective fields. My father is a college professor who has always pushed me to be more than I am and study hard in my academic pursuits. My high school principal held my peers and I to a higher level of success and that constant expectation to be more than what society expected of me helped mold me into the scholar that I am today. However, despite the multitude of strong and positive influences that I have had in my continued educational pursuits, my younger sister has had the greatest impact on my academic career.

For a large majority of my time in academia, I spent much of it in a complacent and undriven state. All my mentors and supporters poured years of experience and knowledge into me, but I would often allow it to go to waste. It was in this unmotivated state of academic pursuit that my sister shone through. Her example was a paragon of academic success that inspired me. Her straight A’s, flawless GPA, and unparalleled resume was a constant reminder of what I was capable of accomplishing; and even with all her pressures from school, she still maintained a perfect balance in recreational activities.

When I entered my junior year of high school, I became aware that the next stage of my educational career was quickly approaching, and that I had to make full use of the tools and resources I had been given to succeed. It was at that time in my life when I stood at that crossroads, where my sister's peak academic performance helped guide me forward. When my senior year began, I modeled my study habits off hers, both my sleep schedule, and free time were altered to match my sisters to replicate the academic success that she had. My dedication to the scholarship application process was inspired by her and through this change I was accepted into nearly every one of the colleges I applied to.

Nevertheless, when I began my freshman year on a university’s campus, her influence still had an impact on my academic career. I devoted my freshman and sophomore years of college doing everything I could to make full use out of the effort my professors, parents, and advisors poured into me so that I could give my younger sister an example to look up to. I pushed myself to every limit that I could, academically, to solidify that when my sister came to college, that she too would have a source of inspiration. I wanted to inspire her in the same way she did for me when it came time to study or prepare for finals. However, even as I work to that level, my sister continues to succeed, pushing herself to higher levels of inspirational heights that keep pushing me to be more than what I am at this very moment. She continues to strive for a level of academic success and her non-stop ascent to that peak has always and will always be the greatest impact on my educational journey.